– Christie® has recently completed a 3D Advanced Visualization System for the Maritime Studies Department of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). Established in 1986 with a mandate to educate students on communication and transportation needs, the school has evolved to become one of China’s leading universities for maritime studies and engineering.

The lecture hall installation features a 1x3 curved screen, 2.5 meters high by 8 meters wide and capable of displaying a blended, seamless image on a 90-degree field of view (FOV). The rear positioning of the projectors makes it possible to augment ocean engineering lecture materials with advanced 3D visuals that give students the feeling of being truly “on board.” It is the first site in China incorporating three Christie Mirage HD12 stereographic projectors and two Christie Spyder X20 video processors and the first rear-projected curved installation.

“One of the challenges we have in China is that our students spend too much time on books and not enough time getting hands-on experience,” says Jinsong Xu, professor of naval architecture and ocean engineering at SJTU. “Our 3D solution from Christie helps bridge that gap and gives them a much better sense of the environment on the seaway.”

Maritime environments are very difficult to simulate, Professor Xu added, given the demands of waves, water pressure, light, sound, temperature and the ongoing changes caused by the weather. “Christie offered the best solution for simulating the maritime environments that our students need to experience.”

Professor Xu and other team members outlined their unique requirements to Christie partner Chess Computers, which sourced the global market for the best equipment. In a collaborative effort, components from Europe and North America were assembled at Christie’s production headquarters in Canada then shipped to China for testing and installation. EON Reality supplied the software.

The screen and carpet in the lecture hall are blue, enhancing the immersive experience. The 3D virtual environment allows the Maritime Studies Department to convey interactive visual information on the screen to students, academics, shipping officials and construction personnel, improving their ability to learn and understand maritime technology and ship architecture. The rear-projection system integrates graphic control, virtual projection and voice control into the equipment’s design and analytical processes.

With state-of-the-art 3D visualization by Christie, students and university officials are getting a much more realistic taste of ocean and ship life than they had before.

The Christie Mirage Series and the Christie Mirage HD12 DLP® sets a new benchmark in stereographic projection as the first full 1920 x 1080 HD resolution 3D active stereo solution, utilized in a single projector or multi-projector array. With its wider field of view, higher brightness, pixel count, and active stereo, the Christie Mirage HD12 is ideal for large auditoriums in educational institutions such as SJTU.

All inputs are routed underground to the projection room located behind the auditorium screen at the university, via the two Christie Spyder X20 video processors. The Christie Spyder X20 is a versatile hardware-based video processor combined with the flexibility of a universal routing switcher. Its integrated source monitoring enables simultaneous, real-time, full frame rate monitoring of all inputs. The Spyder X20 provides users with a 20-megapixel bandwidth to blend, window, mix, and scale any source format and then routes the signal to any destination device or combination of display devices.